Does anyone have any tips on smooting out, disguising, covering or otherwise getting rid of an ugly artex ceiling surface? The swirls were obviously done by an amateur, and are definitely nausea-producing! A totally smoothe ceiling would suit me much better. How can I achieve this, with as little work and as little mess as possible?
Many thanks
Al
"AL_z" wrote in news:Xns9D6EADCFA7735zzzzzz@130.133.4.11:
PS, An acceptable alternative to dead smoothe, would be Ssme kind of textured effect (but not swirls). I maily just want to get rid of the existing swirls!
Al
If you want it totally smooth, and you have never plastered yourself, you would be best off getting a plasterer in to skim it.
You will need to move everything out, the room I expect, but the difference is well worth the upheaval.
The traditional solution is to do what plasterers call a "glue and set", i.e. knock off any high spots, give it a coat of dilute PVA and then skim over it.
If you don't fancy plastering it yourself, you could re-board the ceiling (leaving the original in place), then use joint filling compound on any gaps. Sand flush and paint.
Some links that might be worth reading:
Incidentally, I did find, on a small area, something of a third way, in that a plaster-board paper coating can be torn in layers - like some wallpaper -, and if you are lucky, you might be able to tear off the top layer with the artex. Not what I'd try as a first option though.
If yours is artex hiding old cracked plaster in an old house, with no old ceiling paper in between, you may have to bite the bullet and get the real plasterers in: in my experience that is one profession where the 'Pro' really applies, and their skills are a wonder to observe.
S"spamlet" wrote in news:T7ZDn.2310$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe11.ams:
Thanks to all for the very helpful suggestions and links. The artex ceilings I'm concerned with have been painted at least once. The latest covering looks like vinyl silk emulsion. Therefore, I suspect the dampening products mentioned in this thread might not work very well. Perhaps I'll put up with the vulgar squirls until I bump into an affordable plasterer whose advertising includes the phrase "No job too small". Meanwhile, I'll keep a sick bucket under my bed. (-;
Al
Meanwhile, I'll keep a sick bucket under my bed. (-;
If you have mostly clockwise swirls on the ceiling, then occasional attached pictures of anti-clockwise swirls will null the effect out ...
How about sticking up batterns on all four walls, and neatly stretching and stapling up some tasteful fabric to cover?
Or similarly, put some steel hanging wires across, and attach poster art to it, a bit like a pop mad teenagers bedroom - but hey, you could go a bit Michelangelo ...
Might have to watch flammability of whatever you put up, though.
Don't faff about trying to do it yourself.
Clear the room.
Get a good plasterer in. He'll knock off the biggy lumps, coat it with PVA and plaster it within half a day. And you then got a brilliant smooth ceiling.
Let it dry thoroughly until it's pale pink in colour... few weeks, maybe more. Apply mist coat of emulsion and then full strength coat.
You will never regret having it done properly.
Ed
That reminds me:
If you have a syringe of warm, and one of cold water and lie back and look at the ceiling while someone squirts warm in one ear and cold in the other... the ceiling spins one way. Switch the warm and cold around, and it spins the other. This is one of the interesting tests the medicos do to check your balance.
S
Either skim over it or throw up a second layer of plasterboard over it.
Don't try to sand it down, this stuff often contains asbestos, aparently.
The 'second layer of plasterboard' is the usual technique. It's the quickest and cheapest, usually.
Anything you spend on it will be wasted money until you bite the bullet and get it skimmed flat by a plasterer...I've seen people buying buckets and buckets of that 'smooth-over' s**te from B&Q and they pay more for that than a plasterer would charge for doing it properly, or they spend days wetting and scraping it, making a mess each day and still ending up with a total mess of a ceiling
I did one last Friday, started it at 10AM and finished it at 2PM and this included my dinnertime and cleaning up afterwards, which is easy when everything's sheeted up properly (which all good plasterers will do before starting, hence the 10AM start on the actual plastering) The ceiling was about 22m2 and was scraped and unibonded first, then two coats of multifinish applied, troweled up and polished, total cost to the customer, about £120, but this is because we are doing other work in the same house.
It was bone dry when I went back today, so I've sized it and tomorrow I'm sticking 4 rolls of Anaglypta on it.
Possible if its pre 1984. After that you should be ok.
Why are you putting anaglypta on a nice smooth ceiling?
What is wrong with matt emulsion?
Silk could be making it look worse. Matt may reduce the impact of the texture.
I skimmed two ceilings by using more Artex. Not that difficult, but extremely knackering working overhead. Part of the skill in plastering is being fast enough (and strong enough) to get the stuff up there quickly. Artex is much more forgiving, and allows the amateur to faff around almost indefinitely getting it smooth
"John" wrote in news:6s9En.44$o83.16 @newsfe16.ams2:
Yes - that has occured to me to. Changing the colour will also help. The greyish-pink semi-gloss sheen reminds me of cake-icing made of liquidised brains...
Al
Get a plaster in to skim it. We had the hall, landing and stairs done recently for £250 and it was worth every penny.
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